Bandai Namco & Moff Partner Up To Gamify Fitness Wearables

Wearables are usually not associated with fun and games, as they’re generally focused on fitness, productivity and communication. Many of today’s wearables center around health and fitness, and while fitness is important, not everyone finds it fun. Bandai Namco Entertainment who is best known for their work in the video game industry as the publishing company behind the PAC-MAN franchise, has just announced a partnership with Moff, a company specializing in wearable technology, and together they hope to change the perspective on fitness by introducing a gamified fitness platform that pairs with a fun, stylish looking wearable for kids called the Moff Band.

More than making fitness fun by allowing kids to interact with a game more physically, the Moff Band and new gamified fitness platform will help to create a new form of entertainment utilizing the widely popular PAC-MAN franchise. Through a newly launched app called PAC-MAN powered by Moff, kids and families will be able to interact with an entertaining game while keeping active with movement thanks to the Moff Band required to play. The Moff Band, a colorful and easy to use slap bracelet worn on the wrist is already available on Amazon for around $55, while the PAC-MAN powered by Moff gamified fitness platform is set to launch in the Spring of 2016.

Using the Moff Band, kids can move their arms to act as the mouth of PAC-MAN to eat pellets within the game, while the direction of their outstretched arms dictates the movement of the character on screen. As opposed to using a controller or fingers tapping on a touch screen, the Moff Band and PAC-Man powered by Moff are assisting users in staying more fit while still being able to have fun during exercise, all while breaking just enough of a sweat to make it a fun activity for kids without being too aggressive. Because of the Moff Band’s ability to recognize real-time motion, gaming and fitness have joined forces to “keep kids moving,” says Moff CEO Aki Takahagi. In an age where things are becoming more and more digital and games are fast becoming a more popular part of life, the Moff Band and PAC-Man powered by Moff gamified fitness platform are doing their part to make sure gaming and fitness don’t have to have a mutually exclusive relationship with their users.